


Birds of a Feather

by Ghostbunne



Category: Everyman HYBRID, Marble Hornets
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Being Lost, Blood, Blood and Injury, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Crossover, Dead People, Developing Friendships, Fainting, Fake Character Death, Fear, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Forgiveness, Friendship, Gen, Gun Violence, Hallucinations, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Injury, Lost Love, Major Character Injury, Mental Health Issues, Mind Games, Minor Violence, Not Really Character Death, Past Character Death, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Pre-Canon, Presumed Dead, Recovery, Road Trips, Running, Running Away, Talking To Dead People, Violence, Watching
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:08:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26362414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghostbunne/pseuds/Ghostbunne
Summary: Tim Wright is living a quiet, relatively normal life. His existence may now be a secluded one, but he doesn't mind. He doesn't need much after all, and he has his garden, his carvings, and receives phone calls from Jessica often enough. After the death of Jay Merrick, which he blames himself for, and the death of Alex Kralie, which he was directly responsible for, he chooses to live the secluded life he does to avoid hurting anyone else. When a random teenager from New Jersey turns up passed out in his garden, and a stranger in a mask appears in the rain outside his window, Tim realizes that he hadn't gotten away from the past and had only been hiding from it, and it may be up to him to stop the needless deaths of another group affected by the Operator.
Relationships: Alex & Evan & Jeff & Vinny (Everyman HYBRID), Alex Kralie & Brian Thomas & Timothy "Tim" Wright, Brian Thomas & Timothy "Tim" Wright, Evan & Jeff (Everyman HYBRID), Jay Merrick & Alex Kralie, Jay Merrick & Brian Thomas, Jay Merrick & Everyone, Jay Merrick & Timothy "Tim" Wright, Jessica & Timothy "Tim" W., Jessica Locke & Amy Walters, Jessica Locke & Jay Merrick
Comments: 7
Kudos: 25





	1. A Boy Named Alex

Tim sat in an armchair, looking out quietly through the window at the hill that led down to a quiet stream, past which the trees grew incredibly thick. Tim didn't mind these woods. They didn't have the claustrophobic feeling of Rosswood, but despite this Tim still refused to go too deeply into them just in case he found himself somewhere he didn't mean to be. It had been years since everything had happened since Jay had died. He hadn't seen the Operator for the majority of those years. He hadn't blacked out and woken up confused with a mask on his face either. He was thankful for both of those things. He was also thankful for the small, secluded cabin he had found. No one bothered him out here, which was exactly what he wanted. Outside of work he didn't tend to venture into the nearby town, mostly for fear of getting too close to and losing someone again. Instead, he opted to keep himself busy with small hobbies. Gardening, carving, a little bit of music and painting, nothing he was a master at but over time he had grown far from clumsy. He was carving now as he looked out the window, a small wooden blue-jay he’d paint and add to the growing collection on the mantelpiece. He made one every year on the anniversary of his death, a small token of respect and reverence for a man he had loved. He sighed, looking at the small bird in his rough hands. He set it on a nearby table, standing up and stretching. He ought to check on the garden, see if he could harvest anything else before it died until the next spring. He pulled on his old threadbare jacket, walking out the door to the garden.

Tim was expecting at best a pumpkin or two. Maybe a few tomatoes or the last of the potatoes. He was not expecting to find an unconscious teenager squashing the wilted remains of the empty squash vines. Tim... Did not know how to approach this. He scratched the back of his neck, looking down with confusion and exasperation before he just picked the boy up and carried him inside, laying him down on the loveseat and getting straight to making some soup. It would only be polite to make sure the kid was fed at the very least, he doubted he had eaten recently as Tim’s property was the only one with a home for miles. Almost as soon as the soup was ready Tim heard the stranger stirring in the other room. Tim prepared two bowls, setting them on his small table and pulling out one of the chairs. His set did not go together, his three chairs not matching each other and none matching the table. Tim didn't care but he always found it funny. It reminded him a bit of Jay and how much of a mismatched pair in disarray they had been. Tim sighed softly, making his way into the main room.

”Hey, you alright? Found you passed out in my pumpkins.” Tim said, turning the armchair to face the loveseat and sitting down as the stranger sat up, rubbing his temples.

”Yeah I’m- I’m sorry, I hope I didn't ruin everything. I-” the stranger sighed. It was clear they had some sort of headache.

”What’s your name?” Tim asked, deciding to offer his first. ”I’m Tim.”

”Oh! I’m Alex. I'm sorry for intruding.” Alex said, then going into a ramble as Tim processed that name. Even if it was clear this wasn’t that Alex, wasn’t the Alex who was dead, it still shocked Tim to hear that name. ”I should be figuring out where I am and getting home. My brother... He's probably really worried. I don't even know what happened, he probably knows even less.”

“If you need to use a phone feel free to ask. In the meantime, if you’re hungry I have some soup.” Tim said, standing up and stretching. His joints were feeling stiff these days.

“Oh, thank you! To both of those! I’m starving.” Alex said, standing up and following Tim. “I hope I’m not intruding.”

“Not at all, clearly you needed some sort of help the way I found you,” Tim said. “Besides, I don’t get many visitors out here. If it was an intrusion I would’ve left you in the garden.”

Alex took one of the bowls, sitting down at the table and eating. Tim did the same, deciding to ask a few more questions.

”So, where in the area are you from? It's an awful walk from the nearest town to here.” Tim said. ”Did you walk?”

”Oh, Princeton.” Alex replied before returning to his soup. ”I don't know how close it is to here.”

”I don't think I've heard of Princeton, any larger cities nearby?” Tim asked, trying to place various Alabama cities in his mind. Princeton was not a name he recognized.

”Uh, Trenton is pretty big I mean it's the capital of New Jersey so-” Alex began to speak but was quickly interrupted by Tim.

”Wait, wait. New Jersey?” Tim questioned.

”Yeah, I mean, this is New Jersey isn't it?” Alex asked before finishing his soup. Tim sighed. This had in a few moments become much more complicated for numerous reasons.

”No this is- we're in Alabama right now.” Tim said, thinking. ”How did you get here?”

”I- I don't know. The last thing I remember was Vinny taking a few of us somewhere and then... I can't remember.” Alex answered and it was clear he was starting to grow uneasy. 

”so the last thing you remember is driving somewhere with... Your brother?” Tim asked, not recognizing names.

”Vinny is a friend of my brother and I. But... I think Jeff was there too. Jeff is my brother. Although I can't remember if Jeff was actually there which is weird. I feel like... Like it's all fuzzy.” Alex was growing more uneasy as he tried to dig into his memories, almost growing panicked. “Who was there?”

“Hey, take a deep breath. Do you want to try phoning your brother?” Tim asked. Alex nodded slowly and took Tim’s phone, typing in the number. It rang for a while before going to voicemail.

“That’s... weird. Normally he'd have picked up for me. I'll try Vinny and Evan.” Alex spoke mostly to himself. Tim didn't find it that strange that someone wouldn't pick up, but he got slightly more worried when the others Alex had tried didn't either. ”One of them should've picked up.” 

”Hey, maybe they’re just busy. Don't get too worked up about it.” Tim said, trying to keep the teenager calm. ”If you'd like you can try again later, for now, you can stay here if you'd like considering how far from home you are.”

”Thank you. I'm sorry for intruding.” Alex said again. ”You shouldn't have to deal with... Whatever this is. Why I'm here and not home.”

”You’re not intruding. It's not like I have much going on besides work and my three or so hobbies.” Tim laughed. ”I just don't want to be the asshole throwing a kid out into the cold especially when it's about to get colder.”  
\---  
It was late in the evening when the next strange thing occurred. Alex was sitting by the window, snow and rain falling in tandem as the temperature wasn't quite enough to sustain the flakes. Tim was tidying up in the kitchen, he had made a small dinner for the two of them, making sure that Alex was all good physically and emotionally. He was still upset as even the second time he had called his brother and his friend's none of them had responded. Considering the odd circumstances of his arrival Tim feared something awful had happened, and that these people had all gotten... Involved. Involved with the same thing he and Jay and countless others had gotten involved with. At the end of the day, he was afraid this kid's only family was dead as he had already made an offhand mention of his parents being gone.

”Oh, does someone else live here too?” Alex asked from the other room, causing Tim to abandon what he was doing and quickly make his way over to the window. 

”What? Why?” Tim asked, scanning the darkness for any sign of movement. There was a crash of lightning, and it illuminated someone standing on the edge of the forest. ”Shit. I have no clue who that is.”

”Oh.” Alex responded quietly. Tim made his way to the front door, throwing on his jacket and rubber boots and rushing outside. The stranger stood there, face obscured by a skull-like mask. They waved silently, tilted there head to the side, and reached into their pocket, pulling out something wrapped in paper. They threw it across the small stream before taking off at a run into the forest. Tim didn't follow. He felt like this was bait of some kind. Instead, he reached down, picking up the strange package and bringing it inside. He shook himself off in the doorway before settling down next to the fire and turning it over in his hands. ’Hello’ was written on what he presumed to be the top in messy black marker. The bottom of the package was covered with some binary, tiny ones and zeroes he was sure he’d have to type into a translator by hand later. He opened the package, doing his best not to wreck any of the writings. He was confused when out tumbled a small, clumsy carving of a bird. Incredibly rough around the edges and unpainted, rougher than anything Tim had produced. He turned it over in his hand, noticing something strange. A burn mark a little below the bird's breast. Tim looked at its shape more closely, analyzing it silently as Alex watched him. He dropped it when he connected two things in his mind. This was a carving of a blue jay. A blue jay with a very... Interesting placement of burn mark all things considered. Momentarily Tim considered throwing it into the fire, watching the whole thing burn, but instead, he placed it down next to the one he had finished carving earlier that day. Something else that bothered him was looking at them side by side. Tim could imagine in his mind where the artist of the strange one more practiced... They would look near identical. Tim closed the curtains on the window. He felt like he was being watched.

”Are you... Is everything alright?” Alex asked, watching Tim quietly. ”Who was that?”

”I... I don't know. But they know who I am.” Tim sighed, looking down again at the two carvings. ”They... Gave me this. Excuse me for a second- I have to make a phone call.”

”Hey, this is Jessica Locke, leave a message!” Her answering machine said for the fifth time. Tim redialed. Waiting. It rang and rang, and eventually... ”Hey, this is Jessica Locke, leave a message!”

Tim almost gave up but decided to try one more time. He was glad he did because finally, she picked up.

”Tim, what's going on? You've called me around fifty times is something wrong?”

”I- a lot is going wrong, actually.” Tim said with a dry laugh. ”Uh. But the big thing is I- there's a new masked person they- they showed up outside my house and gave me a carving.”

”a... Carving?” Jessica asked, confused.

”Yeah I... I showed you some of my projects. They- they gave me one almost identical to mine. I think I'm being watched again, Jess.”

”I hate asking the question but I know I have to just in case.” Jessica sighed. ”Are you off your meds or anything?”

”No and- someone else saw them too. Someone here. I'll... I'll hand the phone to them one second.” He passed the phone to Alex.

”Uh. Hi. I don't know what's going on but I saw the masked person too.” Alex said before handing the phone back to Tim.

”Who was that?” Jessica asked.

”A kid who turned up in my yard. His name is Alex.” Tim said.

”oh?” Jessica said in response, surprise tinging her voice.

”He’s from New Jersey.” Tim added.

”What?” Jessica shouted through the phone. ”What do you mean from New Jersey? Did he hitchhike?”

”He doesn't know.” Tim answered. ”It might- It might be an Operator thing.”

”Fuck.” Jessica said, hissing through her teeth. ”Have you been seeing it?”

”No. You?” Tim asked, tapping his foot as he walked in a small circle.

”No, but we should probably be more careful from here on out.” Jessica said. Tim could hear her rattling around in one of her cupboards. ”Keep an eye out for it or any other bullshit.”

”Yeah, I was already thinking the same thing.” Tim sighed. ”It’ll be five years soon you know.”

”Really? Damn.” Jessica said, giving a breathy laugh that was less out of humour and more disbelief. ”You... Never told me what happened to Kralie.”

”What’s there to know? He died. He's gone.” Tim said, growing tense. ”He... He hurt so many people Jess. Whatever he got he had coming to him.”

Tim briefly remembered what it felt like, taking the knife and pressing it against the man’s throat as he thrashed around beneath him. Tim sucked in a sharp breath, snapping back to reality. 

”I know I just... There were so many other questions that have been eating at me since it happened.” Jessica said with a sigh. ”I’ll... I'll call you after the anniversary. To ask them. In the meantime do you need any help or is this just a warning?”

”A warning.” Tim answered. ”I’ll call you if I do need help though. And I'll answer what I can. I mean, we both know our memories of everything are fucked.”

”Yeah... I know.” Jessica laughed again. ”I need to hang up. I have an early route tomorrow. Keep me updated. See you soon.”

”See you.” Tim answered, listening briefly to the tone that followed Jessica hanging up before putting his phone away. 

”Who was that? What's... Going on?” Alex asked quietly, looking out the window once more. 

”There’s... It's complicated.” Tim said quietly. ”She was an old friend. A lot of stuff happened and I hate to say it but I think you might be tied up in it.”


	2. Phone Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim reflects on his past. A phone call is received. Tim and Alex set out on their journey.

Tim did not know what to do. This was the last thing he wanted, to be thrust back into everything after all that had happened, least of all when some kid was involved. He was still spending every day washing blood off his hands. Alex, Jay, Brian, all of those he felt directly responsible for, and his time in isolation had only caused him to further internalize the guilt to the point the longer time went on the more amplified that guilt became. Whilst he wasn’t directly responsible for the deaths of Sarah, Seth, and Amy, he felt some degree of responsibility.

Was there something he could’ve done? Something to prevent Alex from spiralling and doing everything he did? Was there something he could’ve done to help Seth, Sarah and Amy? Could he even have known what was going on? What could he have done differently for Brian? How far gone was he? Could he even come back? He had tried desperately to reason with Alex to no avail, could he have reworded his phrases, reached out sooner, could he have helped him? Then there was Jay. Tim had an exhaustive list of everything he could’ve done differently with Jay. He could’ve stayed, could’ve tried to help him instead of letting his anger cloud his judgement. Jay was sick, as sick as Tim was. He needed help, and answers, and honesty, and He had started to give Jay those things only to snatch them all away and leave him desperate, angry, and confused. There was so much he could’ve done. Tim stared into the bathroom mirror, gripping the edge of the sink with white knuckles. He breathed in, counted to ten, and breathed out. He wiped the tears from his eyes. He opened up the medicine cabinet, pulling out his pills, dumping out two and throwing this head back, swallowing them down. He looked back into the mirror. Dark circles under his eyes, hair just a little too long, a dead expression. He looked like shit. He wondered if he had been really happy where he was now, or if it was just a good enough distraction from the past that he didn’t want to bother changing for fear of disturbing dust and bringing old things to the surface. Tim laughed. Clearly, that had already happened seeing as everything was starting to track him down again. Masked figures, someone needing his help out of the blue, all of this was far too familiar. He just hoped there weren’t going to be any upstart arsonists. He quite like this house and all the things within it.

He made his way out of the bathroom into the main room of the cabin, his sort of living room and dining room. He walked over to the couch where Alex slept, a blanket pulled over him. He snored quietly. Tim gently shook him awake. He blinked, an expression of confusion on his face. It quickly came back to him why he was there. He sat up quietly.

“That’s the best sleep I’ve had in years,” Alex said quietly. “Thanks for letting me stay here I know- I know it must be trouble.”

“No trouble at all.” Tim insisted. He paused for a second. “What’s keeping you from sleeping?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Alex said with a small laugh. “It’s pretty crazy.”

“Pretty crazy was my every day for a long time,” Tim said, crossing his arms and leaning against a nearby wall. He glanced back at the two wooden birds on the side table. “Shoot.”

“There was this monster,” Alex said quietly. “Every night it would come out of my closet and sit on the end of my bed. It was freaky. Like a coyote with mange and a person mashed together and starved for months. Like a walking skeleton. It would sit on the end of my bed and… whisper. Names. Things that would happen. Sometimes it would claw at me, cutting up my legs and arms- that’s where the scars come from. It would tell me stuff that… didn’t make sense.”

“What sorts of things?” Tim asked, shifting his weight. He had noticed the plethora of scars on Alex’s arms but didn’t mention it. He knew what they could mean and didn’t want to point them out and put him on the spot. 

“It told me how stuff would happen… prophecies I guess. It also told me to- to stay away from my friends, Evan and Vinny, that they were bad. Really bad- I- I don’t know. I don’t know if I believe it, I don’t for Evan. Evan wouldn’t hurt anyone unless he had to.” Alex paused for a moment, quiet, contemplative. “Jeff wasn’t in the car with us… and Vinny… I don’t know if I believe it on Vinny. I’ve… I’ve got a feeling that- that maybe with Vinny… It wasn’t entirely wrong.”

“Why is that?” Tim asked, standing up from where he leaned. “And you mentioned Jeff, you’re brother, not being in the car… what’d you mean by that?”

“Oh. I just… remembered telling Vinny about what it told me and… I thought Jeff was in the car thinking back but he wasn’t. I don’t know why I thought he was.” Alex said, standing up and stretching. “As for Vinny… I don’t know. I just have a feeling. I…”

“Is something wrong?” Alex had stopped in the middle of talking, his brow furrowed as he looked down at himself. He was confused. He wore a t-shirt and jeans but… That wasn’t right. The last thing he could remember was Vinny driving him to the funeral, he had been wearing a suit.

“I just… the last thing I remember wearing was a suit,” Alex said with a small shrug, filing it into the back of his mind. “I just.. Don’t remember wearing this.”

“Could be some sort of amnesia…” Tim said, thinking himself. “I had a couple of friends who uh forgot seven months. Jessica was one of them actually. I can’t imagine you running around for that long but… could be something like that.”

“Maybe. Uh. Sorry to bother you but… could I borrow your phone again? I’d like to try calling Jeff again.” Alex asked. Tim nodded, opening his phone up and handing it to Alex. He dialled the number, pausing and smiling at Tim. “Thank you.”

“No problem. I’ll make some food and then we can talk about getting you home.” Tim said with a small nod. He made his way into the kitchen, preparing some grilled cheese sandwiches. He checked his fridge, chucking anything that would expire within the next week. He doubted he’d want to do it whenever he got home. Alex stepped into the room with a dejected look on his face. “No answers?”

“No. I left messages again too. Just in case.” Alex handed the phone back to Tim, sitting down at the small table. Tim called his boss. He’d have to call in.

“Hey man, sorry about this but I have to call in. Family emergency. I won’t be available for the next two weeks at least and I’ll keep you updated as I go along- uh-huh-” He paused, sighed, and rolled his eyes. “I’ll pick up all the graveyards for a month man, I swear. Alright. Thanks. Bye.”

“Work?” Alex asked. Tim nodded.

“Hey, can you keep an eye on the sandwiches? I have to go look for something.” Tim asked. Alex nodded and smiled.

“Yeah, sounds good.” He said, standing by the stovetop and watching the sandwiches cook. Tim left the room, going to his own. He pulled a small safe out from under his bed, popping it open with a sigh. He pulled out an envelope he was really hoping he would never have to use. Hotel money, two beds max three months. He pulled out two more envelopes, enough for two people to have food for the same amount of time, and more than enough gas money. He closed up the safe, sliding it under his bed before shoving the envelopes in his wallet. He stood up, returning to the kitchen and taking the food back over again. Alex sat back down, clearly still upset. Tim set the sandwich in front of him, sitting down with his own. Alex looked at it for a second. “I’m not very hungry.”

“You should still eat if you can. It’s going to be a long stretch before we stop driving once we get going.” Tim said, eating his own. “I’m going to still need your address you know.”

“I’ll write it down for you in a second,” Alex answered before starting to eat his own sandwich. It was silent for a moment, and then Tim’s phone rang. He picked it up. An unknown number, from New Jersey. Tim picked it up.

“Hello?” Tim asked. The line stayed silent. “Hello? Is this Jeff?”

“You have no idea what you’re getting into.” The person on the other end of the line said with a pained voice. “Keep him away. Keep yourself away. This’ll put you in too deep.”

“Who is this?” Tim asked, growing a bit angry. “What do you want?”

“He got a second chance man.” The voice sighed, laughing a little. “He deserves this second chance. Please don’t blow it.”

The phone line went dead. Tim continued to hold it up to his ear for a second, putting it away when he came to his senses.

“Who was it?” Alex asked, hopeful. Tim wasn’t quite sure how to answer. “Was it Jeff? Or Evan?”

“It was a prank call,” Tim answered. Alex sighed, returning to the sandwich. “Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll get a call from them soon.”

They left in the afternoon. The temperature had dropped and snow fell lightly from the sky. As they packed the car Tim kept an eye out. No masked figures. No tall, faceless monsters. No nothing. He did a final walkthrough of the house as Alex got into the car. On impulse, he grabbed his carving kit and the unfinished bluejay. He had tried to convince himself to leave them behind, that he could finish it in time when he got back, but his instinct told him otherwise, that they would be on the road for a while. Maybe it was less instinct and more paranoia. He locked the door behind him, packing away the extra items before getting in the driver’s seat.

“Keys, Wallet, Phone,” Tim mumbled to himself before driving down the driveway and onto the main road. He drove slowly, setting up his music and hitting play. “Alright. Ready to rock and roll.”

“Can I turn up the heat?” Alex asked. He didn’t have anything aside from the clothes on his back, and Tim didn’t have an extra jacket to give him. 

“Yeah, no problem,” Tim answered as music softly played. Alex reached over and cranked up the heat as Tim navigated onto the highway. “Do you want to stop somewhere and get a jacket at some point?”

“I don’t have any money,” Alex answered. “I couldn’t get one if I wanted to.”

“I’ll pay for it. I’d rather you have a jacket than freeze.” Tim said. The car fell into silence for a moment.

“Thank you,” Alex said quietly.

“No problem,” Tim said as he turned off the highway, following the road carefully. “It’s the least I could do.”


End file.
